Beth in Haiti

Friday, September 21, 2012

Young Hope

Seeing the Village of Hope kids every day, you sometimes
start to forget or take for granted how amazingly talented they are. Ok that’s not true, they are stinkin’ amazing
and continuously blow my mind with their love for God, their love for each
other and their realization and utilization of their God-given abilities. Over the past few months, six of our Village of
Hope young men and women have come together in an inspiring way. Realizing that they all had a unique talent with
their voices, they almost completely independently created their singing and rap
group named Young Hope in which they write their own songs, practice harmonies
and sing about trusting God in every situation and bringing change to the
nation of Haiti. This past Sunday, Young
Hope had a chance to perform at a concert for the first time outside of the
walls of Mission of Hope at a church in Port-au-Prince called Eglise Sur Le
Rocher (Church on the Rock).

Bernadine dressed and ready for the bus ride to Port-au-Prince!

It was an incredible experience to watch Jeanson, Elisson,
Mansado, Wilson, Galaxson and Lumaine (the members of Young Hope) as they
practiced daily for their show, coordinated their outfits and fought through a
plethora of preshow emotions together.
Not only is it amazing that these kids have overcome all of the past obstacles
that a young child should never have to deal with, but the fact that they have
showed perseverance and resiliency in the face of adversity throughout
everything is inspirational. As we all
loaded onto the bus with every Village of Hope child and employee, it was made
extremely clear to us by Young Hope that we were not allowed to leave for the
concert without praying first. After praying together as a family on the bus,
we made our way to Port-au-Prince, everyone singing and jumping up and down
with excitement as we went. Young Hope’s
preparation and calm before the show was almost surreal- especially as many of
us seemed to be feeling all of the anticipation and nerves for them! The six of them huddled together as a group
before their act went on; they prayed, shared some words and then united with a
group chant. Shortly after, they
confidently walked on stage, proceeded to rile the crowd and then blew everyone
away, finishing their three-song set with lyrics about praising God even when
we are hungry, tired and hopeless. Even
though the concert ran late, it was raining and everyone was tired, nothing
could have stopped the excitement of the Village of Hope children as they
continued to cheer for Young Hope and sing all the way back home.

Young Hope coming together for their pre-show pep talk.

Not only was Young Hope’s concert a unique and life-changing opportunity for them, but what an incredible initiation for me personally! At a time when I have felt led to move here and work with these children to help prepare them as much as possible for their eventual transition into the community, what better way to see the amazing ways they are actively planning for their futures and already using their talents than to watch six of them working together and already bringing hope to people outside of the walls of Mission of Hope? As our program continues to develop in its beginning stages, I cannot wait or even begin to imagine all of the incredible talents I will begin to see in these kids and will have the honor of helping them figure out where they can use their talents in the future. There are endless possibilities for these young men and women and I am thrilled to be able to watch their journey from the front line.

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About Me

Mission of Hope has given me the incredible opportunity to return to Titanyen, Haiti as Children's Sponsorship Coordinator and Children's Counselor. I look forward to sharing my journey with you through my transition back to life in Haiti and a look into the wonderful work God is doing in this nation.